Emerging open-channel droplet arrays for biosensing

Yongchao Song; Lirong Wang; Tailin Xu; Guangyao Zhang; Xueji Zhang

doi:10.1093/nsr/nwad106

Emerging open-channel droplet arrays for biosensing

Natl Sci Rev. 2023 Apr 20;10(10):nwad106. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwad106. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Authors

Yongchao Song^{1

2}, Lirong Wang¹, Tailin Xu¹, Guangyao Zhang², Xueji Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
² Intelligent Wearable Engineering Research Center of Qingdao, Research Center for Intelligent and Wearable Technology, College of Textiles and Clothing, State Key Laboratory of Bio-Fibers and Eco-Textiles, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China.

Abstract

Open-channel droplet arrays have attracted much attention in the fields of biochemical analysis, biofluid monitoring, biomarker recognition and cell interactions, as they have advantages with regard to miniaturization, parallelization, high-throughput, simplicity and accessibility. Such droplet arrays not only improve the sensitivity and accuracy of a biosensor, but also do not require sophisticated equipment or tedious processes, showing great potential in next-generation miniaturized sensing platforms. This review summarizes typical examples of open-channel microdroplet arrays and focuses on diversified biosensing integrated with multiple signal-output approaches (fluorescence, colorimetric, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), electrochemical, etc.). The limitations and development prospects of open-channel droplet arrays in biosensing are also discussed with regard to the increasing demand for biosensors.

Keywords: liquid marbles; mini-pillar platform; multiple biosensing; open-channel droplet; wettable pattern.

Publication types

Review